Elite 2019 G Scottie Lewis Puts Notre Dame Back In Mix
Notre Dame may not have survived Scottie Lewis’ first cut, but the Irish could survive the 2019 New Jersey guard’s next one.
“I cut my list to 12 schools, I'm hoping to cut it down to around six or seven in May,” the five-star prospect from Ranney School said this weekend at the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Mass.
“I'm going to be adding Notre Dame back into my recruitment list after taking them out of my 12. That's one of the biggest things that recently just happened."
The 6-foot-5, 180-pounder decided he wasn’t quite ready to eliminate the Irish.
“I’ve just been watching them for a long time,” he said of the Irish. “My coach always told me that a lot of schools wouldn’t be as consistent because they feel they won’t be able to get me. So, I figured if I reached out to a school that I was personally interested in, we could kind of build that connection.”
He recently reconnected with Notre Dame, but the Irish still have face a wide variety of competition for Lewis with schools from Harvard to Kentucky in the mix.
“I talk to Coach (Tommy) Amaker every day now, he asks me about my grades, if I have any tests coming up, stuff like that,” Lewis said of the Harvard head coach. “Me and Coach Ryan Ayers from Notre Dame came in contact two or three days ago and started talking again. Coach Cal (John Calipari) and Coach (Tony) Barbee.
“Villanova, Coach (Kyle) Neptune, Coach George (Halcovage) and Coach Jay (Wright).”
Lewis also included Florida and Duke among the programs chasing him hardest.
“Those schools that will be in my top six or seven are the ones that are most consistent,” he said.
Calipari was in the building for Lewis and his Ranney School teammates’ game against Mount Saint Joseph on Sunday.
“They let me know during the week just to show out and give me a couple of tips on what I could do, what they thought I could work on,” said Lewis. “I think I was able to show them that I could do those things they wanted me to do.”
He also noticed Villanova and Minnesota at Springfield College for the contest, but said he was more focused on the game.
Lewis doesn’t have any visits set up at this point, but does know he’ll be looking beyond the basketball court when it comes time to make a decision.
"What can you do for me besides basketball?” he said.
“I'm always going to have the trainers and the people surrounding me to form me into a high-level basketball player. But when I put the ball down, I want to be able to own the team. So, from an academic standpoint, how can you help me do that?"
Interview courtesy of Terrence Payne (@terrence_payne)